Digg/Buzz It Up

POLITICO 44

The Obama administration quickly nixed plans to cut 20 percent of the terrorism analysts at the National Counterterrorism Center — the place where the spy community is supposed to connect the dots — shortly after the Christmas Day bombing plot.

Before the airline bombing plot there were “discussions about how I was going to absorb cuts of up to 20 percent in some of my personnel areas, to include analytic and watchlisting personnel,” National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter told the House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday.

“Believe me, it’s a very, very small silver lining and not a silver lining I really wanted, but those initial cuts have now been canceled for us,” Leiter told the committee.

Leiter called the NCTC the “primary analytic center for counterterrorism” with specific responsibility for connecting the dots that would have allowed the government to prevent suspected Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from getting on an airplane bound for the United States. A number of government agencies were aware of concerns about Abdulmutallab before he left Yemen bound for Detroit, including the State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Since the terror plot was disrupted on Christmas Day, Leiter said he has had conversations with Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and the Office of Management and Budget about adding more NCTC analysts and personnel to track the terrorist watchlists.

“I don’t look at this as this great opportunity to grow. I look at it as a realization that we can’t do the mission that is expected,” Leiter said.

The specifics of the intelligence budget are classified. Leiter revealed the proposed cuts to his office after being questioned by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.).

"The Intelligence Authorization Act of 2010 that passed the House Select Committee on Intelligence but was not considered on the House floor included sharp decreases for the Office of the DNI,” Dent said. “Isn’t it true that your staffing at the NCTC is included in those DNI staffing levels, and could have been very negatively impacted?”